Review of Matthew Shadle’s Interrupting Capitalism: Catholic Social Thought & the Economy. Joe McKay Matthew Shadle’s book, Interrupting Capitalism: Catholic Social Thought & the Economy, provides a good review of different strands of Catholic Social Thought (CST), which takes into account not just the magisterium teaching of the Catholic Church, but also the historical response […]

Paul Smyth. Paul Smyth examines the recent UK report, outlining a ‘Plan for the New Economy’. One of the UK’s leading non-party think tanks, the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR), established a Commission on Economic Justice in 2016, after Britain’s vote to leave the European Union, to examine the challenges facing the UK economy […]

Over 160 people gathered at the book launch of An Enabling Life. Fr Kevin Mogg, A collection of Reminiscences. As one attendee reflected, it was uplifting to be part of a good church story. Kevin Mogg is a much loved and respected Church leader, who has held key leadership positions throughout his sixty years-plus as […]

Memoir of Fr Kevin Mogg, inspired by the Second Vatican Council In An Enabling Life: Father Kevin Mogg. A Collection of Reminiscences, Anne Tuohey and several contributors have captured key aspects of the history of the Catholic Church as it struggled to cope with the huge migrant flows after the Second World War and then […]

Reviewed by Bill Frilay. Chris Patten has written a very interesting memoir on his multi-faceted life in politics, coupled with observations on his contemporaries and the issues of the day. Indeed, a full life. Brought up Catholic (of Irish descent on his father’s side) middle class in West London and educated in the Catholic school […]

Reviewed by Gary Harkin, In the opening lines of his new book, A World of Three Zeroes, Muhammad Yunus reminds the reader that, in 2010, Oxfam reported that ‘the world’s richest 388 people owned more wealth than the entire bottom half of the world population (3.3 billion human beings)’. Yunus then updates us with the […]

A Response to Catholic Bishops’ Social Justice Statement Everyone’s Business: developing an Inclusive and Sustainable Economy (2017-18) Kristy was a mother of four small children who ended up in high-rise public housing after fleeing her abusive partner. The micro-finance scheme operated by the welfare organisation near her block of flats assisted her in a dignified […]

Reviewed by Tony French If, like me, you want to put the current ‘refugee crisis’ into some kind of historical perspective, then I recommend Tony Ward’s recent publication, Bridging Troubled Waters: Australia & Asylum Seekers. This is a well-researched and readable review of Australia’s response to refugees arriving here by boat since the 1990s. This […]

Reviewed by Bruce Duncan. Robert Murray Labor & Santamaria (Melbourne Australian Scholarly Publishing 2017) ppx+103, with a Foreword by Graham Freudenberg. Veteran political journalist, Bob Murray, has produced a short lively account of the traumatic events of the great Labor Split of the 1950s in a way which makes the story readily accessible to readers […]

Bishop Vincent Long launches Bonded through Tragedy, United in Hope; the Catholic Church & East Timor’s Struggle for Independence. A Memoir, by Hilton Deakin with Therese & Jim D’Orsa More than 200 people at the Knox Centre in Melbourne on 1 June heard Bishop Vincent Long OFM Conv, now of Parramatta Diocese, launch this striking […]

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Mission

Social Policy Connections is an independent, ecumenical organisation, motivated and informed by Christian social thinking. Our purpose is to expand awareness of social justice issues in Australia and overseas, and to influence public policy for the benefit of all people, especially the most disadvantaged. SPC is not aligned with any political party.

To help bring the social involvements of the churches into contemporary policy debates and shape a more just society, Social Policy Connections is committed to inform, advocate and engage.

Inform

Provide new platforms for informed debate and conversation through the web, conferences, public events and publications

Convene open forums for fresh voices, especially those with singular expertise or experience.

Advocate

Build relationships with politicians and opinion makers, the media, and like-minded organisations.

Publish research papers, opinion pieces and social comment.

Utilise the print media, along with radio and electronic media, including the internet.

Engage

Establish networks and alliances with concerned people, social agencies and organisations, churches and church agencies.